1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an interactive program time guide that allows a user to selectively view and browse through program schedule information and, more particularly, to a program time guide that displays a time-based grid of program schedule information and allows the user to selectively navigate through the grid to browse program schedule information and identify desired programs.
2. Description of Related Art
As communication technology continues to expand, individuals are faced with an ever increasing number of information sources. For example, many cable television services offer dozens of different channels from which a user can choose. Some available satellite systems claim to offer hundreds of channels and it is widely expected that cable services will expand in an effort to match or exceed this capability. Similar gains in the quantity of available programs and services are anticipated in areas of communication other than television.
This dramatic increase in the amount of available programs and services greatly increases the amount and type of information accessible by a user. However, it also complicates the process of program selection. Unless a user is able to quickly and easily identify desired programs and services and determine when those programs and services are available, most users will not be able to realize the full potential of the ever expanding access to new programs, services and information.
In traditional broadcast television, because there were typically only a relatively few programs available, it was frequently possible for a user to simply remember the time and channel of desired programs based on prior viewing experience. With the advent of expanded cable and satellite television systems having an ever increasing number of channel and program options, it is increasingly difficult to select programs in this manner.
Accordingly, many users select programs by stepping through channels to identify available programs. Once identified, the user can select from available programs for further viewing. However, as the number of available channels expands, the time needed to step through the channels also expands and the viability of this program selection method decreases. Moreover, the process of identifying programs is sometimes complicated because commercials or the like are being shown at the time that a particular channel is selected. This process also does not allow a user to determine what programs will be available in the future. Thus, the user might select a current program that conflicts with a later program that the user would prefer.
To assist users, many publishers provide printed schedule information. Typically such printed schedule information is presented as a time-based grid with increments of time arranged in columns and various channels arranged in rows. Program titles are printed in the grid at the intersection of the time at which they air and the channel on which they are broadcast. Such information, however, may often be incomplete and include information for only prime time programs or for only the most widely available channels. The use of printed program guides can also be cumbersome and inconvenient because the printed guides can be misplaced or lost and are not always readily available when a user wishes to select a program. Moreover, as the number of available program alternatives expands, such printed program guides become more and more unwieldy.
Some service providers provide on-line program guides. For example, on some systems a channel is dedicated for broadcasting a display of program schedule information. Typically, the information is presented as a time-based grid similar to conventional printed program guides. However, because the size of the screen is limited, such systems can typically display only a small amount of program schedule information at any given time.
To accommodate the limited display size, such systems typically limit the time period for which information is displayed. Commonly, schedule information is displayed only for about four half-hour time periods, beginning with the current half-hour time period. To allow the display of program schedule information for all available channels, such systems typically scroll automatically through the available channels, usually in numerical order.
Such systems typically cannot be controlled by the user. Thus, the user cannot select the time or channel for which program schedule information is displayed. Rather, a user seeking information about a particular channel must wait for the system to scroll to that channel in the grid. This can be frustrating and time consuming, particularly for systems displaying information for a large number of available channels. These systems typically provide no way for a user to view program information for a time different than the limited time period displayed in the automatically scrolling grid. Thus, a user cannot review past program information and cannot view future program information unless it happens to fall within the limited time period included in the scrolling grid. This shortcoming limits a user's ability to plan future viewing in advance.
At least one available system allows a viewer limited ability to control the presentation of television program schedule information. In this system, a limited amount of television program schedule information is encoded and broadcast as a non-visible part of a television signal. A viewer can purchase special decoder equipment, which may be included as part of a television, to intercept and decode the transmitted television program schedule information. The decoded information is then stored within the viewer's decoder equipment where it can be displayed and viewed on demand. This system, however, allows for only a limited amount of television program schedule information to be stored on-site and does not allow a viewer to query, on demand, the source of the program schedule information to obtain additional program information. Thus, although the viewer may control display of that television program schedule information which is stored on-site, the viewer cannot obtain or view additional program schedule information on demand.